Planet Of The Apes Verses Fantastic Four #2 - Marvel Comics

PLANET OF THE APES VS. FANTASTIC FOUR No. 2, May 2026

Whilst there’s arguably little doubt that Issue Two of “Planet Of The Apes Verses Fantastic Four” should provide the vast majority of its readers with an enthralling experience, the sheer number of subplots Josh Trujillo throws into the twenty-page periodical’s narrative suggests that the Los Angeles-born writer was perhaps a little concerned as to whether his story would have the legs to run for an entire “four-issue Marvel comic miniseries.” In fact, towards the middle of the book the whole premise of the title appears to suddenly swing around to following in the footsteps of Michael Wilson and Rod Serling’s screenplay for the 1968 motion picture, rather than anything particularly original; “Based on what Taylor said, I have an idea of where the ship crashed. But not what condition it’s in.”

To make matters even more confusing though, the American author also creates a large, gun-toting population of straw-hat wearing gorilla farmers who rather unconvincingly rise up to assault the soldiers of Ape City simply because a red-hooded stranger informs them over a night-time campfire that their civilisation’s leaders are feeding four humans with their harvest. So bizarre a predicament genuinely smacks of this tale rather desperately needing some sort of threat to draw the likes of General Ursus back to the capital, and debatably appears disappointingly contrived at best.

What does land well however, has to be Johnny Storm’s discovery of a submerged ANSA space vessel at the bottom of the Forbidden Zone’s lake. This sequence should bring back a wave of nostalgia to any bibliophile who has watched Franklin J. Schaffner’s original science fiction flick, and also muse the ramifications of poor Stewart’s demise when the meta human spots the dead astronaut’s rapidly aged corpse still inside her compromised hibernation pod.

Perhaps therefor the most consistent thing about this publication are the pencils of Andrea Di Vito and Erick Archiniega’s colours. Together the artists do an absolutely first-rate job of depicting this crossover comic’s considerably-sized cast, with the rather imaginatively rock-covered Doctor Zaius proving especially memorable. Furthermore, Urus’ brush with one of the Red Ghost’s super-apes really brings home just how physically strong gorillas are – whether it be the General or Miklho.

The regular cover art of "PLANET OF THE APES VS. FANTASTIC FOUR" #2 by Greg Land & Rachelle Rosenberg